Final answer:
Protection in a democracy involves safeguarding individual liberties and freedoms while balancing these with equality and order. The separation of powers is critical to preventing excessive government control, and the judiciary plays a key role in upholding individual rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
Specifically, what needs protection in a democracy involves safeguarding the sphere of liberty. This encompasses the preservation of individual liberties and freedoms which are considered the bedrock of a democratic society. Such liberties include freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the right to political participation through organizing political parties and elections. Moreover, democracies work to balance these liberties with equality, ensuring that rights are not unjustly encroached upon by governmental powers.
In a democracy, there is always a delicate equilibrium to maintain between order and freedom, where measures like the separation of powers are essential to prevent undue accumulation of political authority. Furthermore, democratic institutions, especially the judiciary, play a crucial role in balancing individual freedoms with collective well-being, and in extending protections to various societal groups, including decisions like the 2015 affirmation of marriage rights for same-sex couples.